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Eric said: “Before us there was the Air Landing Battalion led by Major Howard. He dropped with six gliders right alongside Pegasus Bridge.

“The 7th battalion – that was mine – came in at midnight only five or 10 minutes behind Major Howard’s and we relieved them.

“I was the first on to the plane and, therefore, the last to exit, ensuring that all paratroopers had left the aircraft.

Eric Tandy in his paras uniform back in 1946 (Image: Daily Record)

“Unfortunately, midway through the job of deploying the soldiers out, a medic was wounded by anti-aircraft fire. He crawled to the exit, resulting in delaying the rest of the ‘stick’ from exiting the aircraft, causing us to overshoot the drop zone by about 10 miles.”

Eric, from Glenrothes, tried to lead his men back to Pegasus Bridge – which involved a potentially deadly journey through a minefield.

As they moved forward, they saw a patrolling sentry coming their way and hid in a hedge – but were spotted by the guard. The sentry called for help and Eric and his men were quickly surrounded.